UPDATED: Frederik Meijer dies at age 91

Meijer and his wife, Lena, have donated millions of dollars to causes in Grand Rapids and the greater West Michigan area.

HEIDI FENTON

Former Grand Valley State University President Arend Lubbers recalls the early years of GVSU classes in Holland and how he saw the need for a campus that could accommodate a growing student interest.

The university had offered classes at Holland High School since 1994, but that space grew too crowded for a student body of more than 900.

Lubbers looked to an open parcel of land at Waverly and 16th Street, behind the existing Meijer grocery store, and saw it as the perfect fit for a satellite campus. After seeing a truck roll through the area with the logo, “Why pay more?” he decided to approach entrepreneur Fred Meijer with a proposition.

“I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just go to Fred and say, “I don’t want to pay much. Why pay more? Why don’t you just give the land to us for the campus?”’ And he did,” Lubbers recalled. “He agreed very soon to the deal.”

That marshy, 19-acre land parcel gave GVSU the space for a building that opened in 1998 to about 1,400 registered students. Talks of a satellite campus had gone on for decades, but, until Meijer’s donation, they had not progressed.

Today, student interest in local GVSU classes continues to grow.

Lubbers eventually retired as president, but he and Meijer remained close friends. The two met for lunch each Monday in Grand Rapids with a group of others, and would talk for the last time this week.

Meijer died late Friday at Spectrum Health after suffering a stroke earlier that day. He was 91.

Meijer was born Dec. 7, 1919, in Greenville and went on to establish the supercenter store format in the 1960s that made Meijer a successful Midwest retailer. By 2009, Meijer had 180 of the giant stores throughout Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio with annual sales of $15 billion.

Fred Meijer and his wife, Lena, have donated millions of dollars to causes in Grand Rapids and the greater West Michigan area.

The scenic Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids continues to draw visitors. Besides donating land for GVSU’s Holland campus, the Meijer Foundation continues to support an annual lecture series at Hope College that highlights family-owned businesses with a historical effect on West Michigan.

Al McGeehan was mayor of Holland when the 16th Street Meijer opened and later, when the doors opened to the new GVSU campus.

He recalled seeing Meijer at a lunch about two years ago and the man’s insistence that “the mayor” be given a signed copy of his new book.

“Any man who believes first and foremost we need to invest in education is a man who is going to be a friend not only of Holland but of any community,” McGeehan said of Meijer. “Even though he was such a successful business person, he was well-grounded in his family and his faith, and I will always respect that.”

Lubbers valued conversations with Meijer and how he looked at the complete picture of any idea.

“He always found a relevant question to ask about what you were presenting to him. It’s with that quick mind and intelligence that he could penetrate a subject and get to the core of an issue very quickly,” Lubbers said.

“Here’s this businessman who’s been so creative and so successful, but his mind ranges over all the fields of life,” he said. “(Meijer) was positive towards life and towards people. He liked to see things better. He was not impressed by his wealth, but he was impressed by what his wealth could do.”

Meijer is survived by his wife, Lena, and sons Hank, Doug and Mark.

A time of public visitation will take place 2-10 p.m. Tuesday at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, 1000 E. Beltline NE in Grand Rapids. Family and invited guests will attend a private service on Wednesday.